When I was close to graduating college, I would sometimes be asked where in the United States I would like to work.

My answer was always, “Anywhere but the Gulf Coast.”

I’ve been to various cities in and around the Gulf Coast area (Houston, Lake Charles, New Orleans, Biloxi, Ocean Springs, Tampa) and have found the residents to be some of the most charming, friendliest folk in the nation. In addition, the cuisine (and here I speak of crawdads and gator) is superb and well worth the trip.

No, the reason I was determined to avoid the arc of geography that stretches from Texas to Florida is the heat and humidity. I have lived through winters in Chicago, Minneapolis, and Washington D.C. and I am fine with sub-zero temperatures and the occasional four-foot wall of snow that takes up residence in my driveway.

What I have real trouble tolerating is oppressive heat and smothering humidity. Summers in the District of Columbia and the Windy City can be both hot and humid but I can’t recall too many times (while I resided there) that the extreme weather went on for more than a few days.

My intolerance for Double-H (heat and humidity) days has never been tested since we moved down to Lima. The weather here is fantastic as it is boring and predictable. In summers the average high is just a shade under 80 degrees. Winters see the mercury hit and average low of 59. If you want to see all the number regarding the Lima climate, jump to here.

As an example of the stability of Lima’s weather, here is a screen shot of the current 5-day outlook for the City of Kings.

Zzzzzzz

When I took this image at noon (local time), please notice that the temperature was a lovely seventy-five degrees and there was no heat index or wind chill as the text below “75” says, “Feels like 75”. Tomorrow it will be 75, Friday heats up a smidge, Saturday stands still at 77, and Sunday sees a drop back to 75. Typical of autumn and winter, the skies are mostly to partly cloudy.

Lima, Peru – climate-wise – has been a dream for me. So with the recent announcement that the family is up and moving to Bangkok, Thailand, I made the mistake of looking at the weather.

Six words now come to mind and only five of them are appropriate for a G-rated blog like this, “What the [ ] am I thinking?!?”

Here is the screenshot of the current 5-day forecast for Thailand’s capital….

AAAAGGGGHHHHH!x10

I will direct your attention to the fact that the current temperature reading was taken at midnight (Thailand time). It’s the dead of night and it is eighty-six degrees outside. Oh, but wait…courtesy of the humidity, it actually feels like it is ninety-nine degrees….at midnight!

Tomorrow, Friday, and the whole weekend are expected to be in the triple digits.

Good gravy, what have I gotten myself into?

If anybody has any tips, tricks, or cheats on how to survive these conditions (that are fine for the planet Venus, but a tad harsh here on Earth), please drop me a line in the Comments section. Much obliged.